The holy grail of the Kriegsmarine awards

[Giel VW]

Hi guys,

A few weeks ago I was able to find a badge that has been on my wish list for many many years. Not only it being a rare variant, but also the history behind these awards has always fascinated me. So proud to present my "Sterling" Auxiliary cruiser badge. This variant has the slightly more uncommon longitude lines on it too.

Hope you like it!
Giel

[woodyneil]

its beautiful Giel! Id love to purchase a similar badge one day.

Neil

[BubbaZ]

Hi Giel,
Amazing! I love it Great find
Is there any story behind your badge?
Is it the badge already known to the forums/included in stats or completely new find?
Cheers,
Hubert

[Giel VW]

Thanks guys!

Unfortunately no story... came from a German collection.

[Terrence]

Nice find! congratulation!

[BubbaZ]

Bad luck there is no docs or story behind it. Well, there was a story behind mine but I could not confirm it anyway...
Your badge is type 2 according to Norm's classification and I think that longitude lines look 'textbook', just a bit weaker than on other badges of this type (5 examples known so far but I have not seen all 5).
Cheers,
Hubert

[Gary B]

Giel,

Wonderful addition to your collection. I agree they are the Holy Grail of KM badges. Yours has quite a lot of the gilt finish on it. Personally I prefer the ones with the lines etched in the globe like yours.

Gary B

[AndyC]

Giel


Congrats to a very nice find





Andy

[Martin W]

That's a real beauty in my eye Giel.

Congratulations on this great find.

Cheers,Martin.

[John R.]

Bring it to Pomona?

John

[Giel VW]

Bring it to Pomona?

John

I won't make it to Pomona this year unfortunately.

[John R.]

Good, Jeff V and I have a chance then

[Norm F]

Your badge is type 2 according to Norm's classification and I think that longitude lines look 'textbook', just a bit weaker than on other badges of this type (5 examples known so far but I have not seen all 5).

Now that's 6!

http://wehrmacht-awards.com/forums/s...d.php?t=862157

Best regards,
---Norm

[John R.]

I agree that this is the most interesting of the Japanese made awards. I have never considered the "Penang" medal a medal at all since it is not an official Japanese decoration. If the Japanese had wanted, they certainly could have given every German sailor a low order Japanese decoration, but instead, they came up with the Penang medal.

I think all it was was a commemorative gift created by the local Japanese commander.

To me, if a decoration is not official, then it is not a decoration, it is a gift of some sort. For example, many medals worn by Vietnam veterans are, or were, official South Vietnamese decorations, same with decorations awarded by Korea or Saudi Arabia, or many other countries to foreign military personnel.

Study the uniform of General Patton and you will see many foreign official decorations, no made up decorations.

Well, I digress a bit, and only an opinion.

Like the AC badges made in Japan, very interesting, and wonderful history.

John

[Ludwig]

Excellent badge!